It could be seen that the Dragonfang had been troubling the village for quite some time. When the hunters carried the carcass back to the village, the villagers were celebrating as if they were celebrating a harvest festival. The villagers even lined the streets to welcome the hunters as heroes.
Even Torry and Jom, who did not know the villagers, were invited to the bonfire to enjoy a steaming hot meal.
The food in the village was simple, just regular rye biscuits. The hunters worked together to cut the Dragonfang's stomach into palm-sized chunks and handed them to the village women to roast over the bonfire. Then, they distributed the chunks to the villagers.
Even the bones were not wasted. They were thrown into a large ceramic pot and boiled over high heat. After skimming off the foam, they sprinkled a bunch of wild leaves that Jom did not know the name of and simmered on low heat. It did not take long before a fragrant broth was ready.
Although the broth would become more flavorful if it was simmered for a while, the villagers clearly did not have the patience to wait. They all urged the hunters to boil the broth.
Perhaps it was because of the heavy snow, but the villagers had not enjoyed such a rich meal for a long time. When Torry and Jom had only taken a few mouthfuls of broth, the villagers had already finished the broth in their wooden bowls with rye biscuits. Some of the greedy children even shamelessly ran to the village women and begged for another bowl.
"You people worship the God of Harvest, right?" When Jom entered the village, he noticed that there was a statue that looked like a totem pole placed at the entrance of the village. It was the symbol of the God of Harvest, Markelo. Only when the entire village had a population of more than a hundred people, and all of them were loyal believers of the God of Harvest, would the Courtyard of Grains (the church of the God of Harvest) erect such a statue at the entrance of the village.
It was a relatively common symbol of honor. At the same time, when the god performed his miracles, the statue would also share some of the power, and it would have some effect on the villagers. Other gods also had similar things. If it was compared to the church of the God of Games, it would be similar to the Lifestone.
Jom turned to the middle-aged hunter beside him and asked, "I heard that the God of Harvest performed a miracle this year. Villages like yours that are recognized by the Garden of Grains should have a good harvest, why do you look so poor?"
"That's because the Brilliant White Church is the official religion of the Valla Empire. Apart from the Courtyard of Grains, our village has to pay tithes to the Brilliant White Church as well. Moreover, the Brilliant White Church and the Temple of Glory's One Year War had to stock up on rations, which is why the Brilliant White Church's taxes are heavier this year. Naturally, we wouldn't have anything left after we paid the taxes to the tax officials …" The middle-aged hunter abruptly came to his senses at that, realizing that he had almost blurted out the complaints he had about the two churches. He couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat and simply brushed it off. "Hey, you're just a kid. Why are you asking about that?!"
"I'm just curious." Then he asked, "They're already bullying you to this extent, why don't you even dare to complain?"
"Kid, don't talk nonsense if you don't know anything!" The middle-aged hunter shook his head helplessly and whispered into Jom's ear. "The old men in the city say that the gods and churches are one, and insulting the churches is blasphemy! You'll be hanged on the city walls if you're caught! "
Jom frowned. "Is that why you're chickening out and living a miserable existence?"
"Why are your words so harsh, kid? What do you mean 'living a miserable existence'? Our village has been living quite well when there's no war." The middle-aged hunter was naturally unhappy that Jom was calling him chickening out. "Only when there's a war … Do you know what war is? That's killing people, and the soldiers have to be provided with enough to eat and drink before they die. "
"Hmph …"
Jom snorted softly and did not answer.
Why wouldn't he know anything about war? After all, both he and Terry had been forced to live in exile because of the One Year War. If the Church of Games hadn't taken them in, they would still be scavenging for garbage outside Wickidor!
"Aren't you eating, Jom? This biscuit is quite good. " Terry, who wasn't participating in the discussion was munching on the hard rye biscuit noisily, uninterested in the roasted meat that the villagers were drooling over.
After all, the most common food in the Unnamed Town was barbecued meat. Although the heavy oil and salt were very flavorful, the players were getting sick of it after a long time. This was also the main reason why the frogmen's Grey Fjord Fish Soup, which didn't have much seasoning, was so popular among the players.
Jom tasted a piece of rye biscuit. Apart from the fact that it was as hard as a rock, the taste was similar to the biscuits that his mother used to bake for him at home.
Once he remembered his parents who were consumed by the flames of war in that warm little house, Jom's heart that he thought had already healed started to ache again.
If only he had known about the God of Games earlier and worshipped him with them earlier, his parents wouldn't have died …
Jom took another look at the villagers and once again felt the greatness of the God of Games. In the past, he had always treated the adjectives that the system used to praise the God of Games as a joke.
Although the God of Games couldn't compare to the God of Harvest in terms of mass production, the God of Games still gave the players who worshipped him a prosperous life. Unlike these believers of the God of Harvest who could only watch as the fruits of their labor were stolen by others, the God of Games gave his believers the power to resist. All sorts of dungeons and activities seemed to be teaching the players that no matter how tortuous the path to victory was, they had the right to fight for themselves!
There was no such thing as' those who walk different paths cannot make plans together 'in this world, but Jom knew that the villagers with the totem of the God of Harvest at the entrance of the village would never change their faith. That was why he didn't try to persuade the villagers to convert to the God of Games.
After finishing the meal, he prepared to leave. At most, he would catch some animals for the villagers as a token of gratitude.
Just as Jim was thinking about that, a panicked figure ran over from not far away. In his panic, he even knocked over a brazier by accident. The clattering sound of the brazier landing on the ground drew everyone's attention to the source of the commotion.
"Nott, aren't you supposed to be guarding the village entrance?" an elderly man who looked like the village chief asked the panicking person.
"No no no, it's bad!" The villager was shaking, his beetle-like eyes were filled with unconcealed fear. "The Mountain Bandits are here!"
As if someone had pressed the mute button, the originally noisy villagers suddenly quieted down. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the burning firewood. It was eerily silent.
"How far are they from the village?" the old man asked solemnly after a moment of shock.
"No no no, they're not far!" The villager was on the verge of tears, he said in a heartbroken voice, "They're almost there!"
This news was like poking a hornet's nest, the villagers were so frightened that they started running in all directions, trying to hide or escape the village before the bandits arrived.
"Don't panic, don't panic!" The old man tried his best to maintain order. "As long as we hand over our food, the mountain bandits won't kill us!"
But it was obviously useless, the villagers were still panicking.
At this moment, there was a loud bang, and the entire ground seemed to tremble.
Everyone was startled by the sound, and they stared blankly at the place where the sound came from. There sat two youths with indifferent expressions.
One of them was slightly shorter, a brown-haired young man in a white robe, holding a metal cross that looked like a war hammer. The end of the cross had smashed a crater the size of a casserole pot into the ground, that must be the source of the loud crash.
"Thank you for your hospitality." The other, slightly taller, blue-haired young man also stood up, sticking out his tongue to lick the crumbs off his lips, he unsheathed the longsword on his back.
"As thanks, we'll take care of the bandits." Jom smiled at the stunned villagers and walked towards the village entrance with Terry.
"Wait! The mountain bandits aren't normal bandits! "The middle-aged hunter who had been chatting with them earlier hurriedly stopped them.
"It's fine, we're not normal kids either." Jom replied, emphasizing the word 'kids'.
"Yeah yeah, just to be clear, we're very strong."
Terry grinned as well. As if to show that he was strong, he stretched out his arm and flexed his muscles. However, his arm, which was as thin as a hemp stick, did not give off the feeling that he was strong at all...
The other villagers didn't look too happy, but it was too late to stop them, the mountain bandits had already reached the village entrance.
It was then that Jom finally saw the full face of the mountain bandits.
To put it simply, they were bandits dressed in rags and riding chocobos, but unlike the sallow and emaciated villagers, these bandits were clearly well-fed, their bodies were quite sturdy, and their weapons were long sabers that were easy to use on birds.
Their menacing charge was similar to the cavalry on Earth, the infantry were completely overwhelmed by the bandits' aura alone, and facing them was mentally stressful. Add to that the chocobos' ability to break through, and strictly speaking, they were even stronger than the ancient cavalry on Earth of the same weight.
But to Terry and Jom, they weren't afraid at all.
The reason was simple.
"Why are they only level 5, they're too weak." Terry raised his longsword, "I can beat these guys up with a hammer!"
"Their birds are level 8." Jom, as a cleric, set the tone for the battle, "Hit their bird heads first."
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